Diagnosis: body oval. Upper eye more than its own diameter from dorsal profile of head; anteriornostril on blind side not enlarged, anteriornostril on eyed side with a backward-pointing tube, reaching to vertical through front margin of lower eye. Dorsal fin beginning on the anterior profile of head, with 65-78 finrays; pectoral fin on eyed side small, with 3-5 finrays, on blind side reduced to a single long and 1-2 short finrays; anal finrays 49-63; caudal fin united to dorsal and anal fins by a membrane. Lateral line with 55-70 pored scales, the supra-temporal branch not visible; scales rectangular, intercanalicular striae of Dicologoglossatype. Vertebrae 36-38. Colour: eyed side sandy yellow or light brown, with small brown or 2 grey spots; dorsal and anal fins with every fourth to seventh finray dark for most of its length. Size: to 15 cm SL.

Habitat: demersal on sandy bottoms of continental shelf and slope, at depths of 5-450 m (mainly at 10-40 m). Food: wide range of small bottom-living organisms, mainly crustaceans (copepods, amphipods, cumaceans), bivalve molluscs and polychaetes. Reproduction: spawns in February (Mediterranean), March, April-June (Bay of Biscay) and July-August (western part English Channel, North Sea, western Ireland).